Heart of a Warrior
by WiseDragonQueen5
Summary: Three years after the trio parted, Mugen hears a rumor that Fuu and Jin are nearby. What will he face in order to see his friends again? Who is the shadow-woman he runs into along the way? Rated for violence, Mugen's mouth and poss. lemon later.
1. Chapter 1

**Nope I don't own Samurai Champloo or any of its characters. The girl in this fic IS my character though.**

**On a side note. Be jealous. My boyfriend is a real-life Mugen. A hot and sexy tough guy with a hidden away loving streak who's an amazing fighter. He even has the tan and the sexy hair style. *win***

Chapter 1

_I wonder where they've been all these years,_ he thought._ I wonder if I'll ever see them again._

The brown-haired ronin looked up at the sky as he walked through the town he'd taken up residence in most recently, listening to the flow of people around him. He caught snatches of conversations as he passed by people, barely listening to them.

"I can't believe it! She really..."

"Oh yes, you wouldn't believe the rumors! I've heard he's very handsome..."

"A brown haired girl and a samurai with glasses you say? "

"Yes, and I hear tell they are headed to the next town over... Looking for jobs and a place to stay they say. The samurai is supposedly a master swordsman with no peer..."

Mugen started at the last one and grabbed the man who was speaking. "Where's this town? Tell me the quickest way to it..."

"The quickest way is through the forest... But no one goes there anymore, it's too dangerous. Most go around..." the man replied quickly, shaking in fear of the rugged pirate that held him.

Mugen dropped him and stared off into the distance, ignoring the man as he edged away.

_Fuu. Jin. If it's them, I could see them again. Maybe... I wonder if flat-chest has grown up any these past three years. Maybe Jin would spar with me. No one's been able to keep up with me in awhile, it's been so boring..._

He looked around the small village. Nothing to keep him here. No family to hold him back. No friends. His job was shit, he only kept it to feed himself and get a place to stay.

_Well, why the hell not?_

And with that thought in mind he began walking along the road that led out of town.

*******************

He paused at the cross roads that evening. _Didn't that man say that the quickest way was through the forest? But it was too dangerous for normal people... _ He smirked. _ I'm hardly normal. If whatever it is is killable, maybe I can even collect a bounty. And I could see Fuu again. _He'd never wanted to admit it, but he missed her more than the fish-faced samurai. Maybe he'd had a tiny crush on her. That's why he'd always been the first to rush to her aid, the first to protect her. Maybe she'd have grown up some more in these past three years since they had parted.

Jealousy shot through him. _ They said she was with Jin. Had they been together all these years? Had she chosen him after all?_

He had to know. Had to find out.

He needed to know if what he thought was a chance at love was a lie or not.

Back then he'd thought maybe she'd learned to love him. Him. The outcast. The pirate. Scruffy and lean, ill-mannered and impolite. Jin had seemed a much nicer prospect for her... He'd been scared and had parted with them quickly after his promise to Fuu had been fulfilled, not wanting to be tied down any closer than he already was. Not wanting to chance that either of them would throw him away, as the other friends in his life had...

Maybe he was ready now. _Maybe I could have the life I don't deserve. I could make one._ He tried to picture it. A family, a wife, a home... Not needing to fight for everything. He came up blank. Especially the not fighting part. Battle was too much a part of him. He needed to fight like he needed to breathe.

When he fought, he could be at one with everything. He could do nothing but feel. Feel the muscles under his skin tensing and releasing. Feel the sweat trickle down his skin. Feel the heat of movement. He could _be_. He'd fought for everything since he was born on those islands. Fought for mere survival in that hell hole. His spirit remained indomitable and untamed, no matter how he was beaten or starved. He taught himself to fight to shield himself. To hide himself behind a spinning wall of steel, behind a whirling wall of kicks and punches. Fighting was the only way he had to express himself. And no one else seemed to realize that. Not Fuu, not even Jin.

Shrugging to himself, he chose the forest road.

Golden eyes watched him from the forest, and disappeared into the evening shadows under the trees.

*************************

It was night and he was looking for a place to stop.

Sensing something he stopped and craned his head around, loosening his sword in its sheathe as he did so.

A voice emerged from the darkness surrounding the road. It was female, deep and musical, yet full of command. He'd never heard a voice like it before. "Why are you here, human? I cannot protect your kind if you wander headfirst into danger. I won't hold your hand just so you can pass through here, for then I'd be obliged to do so for every fat merchant that wanted a quicker road to the next town over. I _don't_ have time to baby you. Why are you here, courting your death on this abandoned road?" she said from the trees.

Mugen bristled in response. "I don't need you to _baby_ me, bitch. I'll go where I damn well want to, and you're not stoppin me"

A figure separated itself from a branch above him and to the left, dropping down lightly into the shadows in front of him. "Did you not understand, human? This is not the place for your kind. This forest is a place of demons and hells, monsters and other creatures. It is a deathtrap. I do everything in my power to merely keep the demons from overrunning your villages and towns nearby, it is death for a group of humans to pass through here, let alone a lone man."

He grunted in response. "I grew up in a hell of my own," he replied gruffly. _I couldn't care less what she has to say. I need to get there fast. If he doesn't have Fuu yet, he might have her now... I can take care of myself just fine, I don't need to worry just cause some tree-hugger bitch and some old man said this place was dangerous._

Bright eyes glared out at him from the dark silhouette ahead. They seemed like a cat's eyes almost, reflecting the light of the full moon in the darkness, what little of it filtered through the trees to the road. She moved forward slightly and moonlight glinted off her hair for a moment, wreathing her head in light before fading back into the darkness. She moved forward just a little bit, so that he could see her face. What part of it was visible. Her mouth and nose were hidden under a black cloth mask. Her eyes glared at him above it. "Turn around now, human, I won't be responsible for you if you don't," she said.

"Won't be the first time no one's been responsible for me but me, lady. Also won't be the last. Now get out of my way before I make you move!" And he drew his sword smoothly, stepping forward. His body relaxed into his fighting stance as he waited.

She laughed at him. He was seeing red as she chuckled into the night. _How dare she laugh at me?!_ "No human could keep up with me. None of my kind has even been able to keep up with me since...," she paused, "Needless to say, a human most certainly couldn't since my own people cannot!" She shrugged, "Either way, you have written your own sentence, so be it." The shadow-woman crouched and sprung into the brush surrounding the road, looking back only once. She turned around and disappeared with nothing more than a parting glint of her moonlit hair, melting in to the shadows like a feline.

***************************

_What an infuriating human. ALL of them are infuriating. You warn them away, and what do they do? Send more of themselves out to harass you! Do they ever listen to the warnings? Not until a death or disappearance. Not until I have to bring back another half-eaten body. Not until that reminds them WHY this forest is to be avoided. Then they listen. Until they forget again._

Her eyes scanned the ground in front of her as she sprinted through the trees, the moonlight as bright to her eyes as the noon sun. She was in her domain in the forest. This was what the elements created the People for.

When she ran, when she fought, her constant grief and loneliness were washed away for a little bit. They always came back though.

_Kai, I'm so lonely without you. Why did you have to leave me here, alone? You knew you were my only friend among the People. The only one who would even talk to the half-blood. The "mutt". You helped me train, to find teachers. No one else wanted the abandoned one, once her mother had left her to die in the forest, once she'd gotten bitten by the demon... Of course, now they all talk to me, fawn on me. Only because I am the strongest now. Only because I trained, even when they were resting. I became the best. WE were the best, Kai. I miss you, my friend._

The familiar sorrow returned to her. For many years now it had been her constant companion, along with the familiar loneliness that haunted her soul. Desperately, she turned her thoughts back to the human. Her oath to protect the humans of this area required that she at least check in on him. Usually her warnings to turn back were heeded. The recent attack on a merchant train that snuck by her into the forest helped to remind people why they were asked to take the longer way around the great forest. She shuddered. _There wasn't much left of those merchants when I found them. At least the villagers knew who they were from the personal items and records she'd managed to bring back..._

_Why do I do this?_ she thought. _They don't deserve the protection, and they breed like mice. If one gets killed off its replaced by three more..._

_**You protect because it was what you were born to do**_, another part of her answered.

_But it doesn't matter if I'm not strong enough to bother._ Her grief threatened to overwhelm her as she thought this._ It wasn't so bad when Kai was here. It wasn't so bad being half a soul, with no soul twin. Being the oldest of the People who still wasn't Whole. Fifty years alone... _she thought, _ no one deserves this. No one wants to be with me. Even if my soul-mate was born, he'd probably refuse me. No one would want to be twinned to a _mutt. Bright, hot tears began to trickle down her cheek as she thought that.

She'd been orphaned by a mother who didn't want the shame of raising her. Demon blood ran in her veins from the bite she'd received as a child, when her mother left her in the woods for the hell beasts to kill. She'd killed the one, and survived the bite - barely. Raised by the Ryuu*, because none of the People wanted a mixed blood orphan that was demon-touched. At least the Ryuu-mother that had adopted her had not cared that she was demon-touched. The venom in the beasts worked best on full humans or full blooded People. Her mixed blood had allowed her to survive... but changed. Her hair, once a brownish color, had become like flame. Her eyes, liquid gold, changing color to suit her moods...

She looked down at herself. And the power that woke in her blood that night. The power that had almost killed her. The flame-bright energy that wound its way through her blood, the very power of it showing in the change in her appearance. There was no way to stop it. There was no way to change it. No one had ever seen its like before. The magic of the People didn't usually manifest itself in half breeds. The mixes tended to be hot-tempered and tended to fight well. Usually, when such a child was born , it was given to humans to raise, since its powers would never show anyway... But hers had. The demon venom had awoken the magic of fire in her veins, among other abilities. It was strong in her blood. They couldn't give a child like her to humans. She would destroy them without training, without control. They didn't want her themselves either.

So the Ryuu-mother Farai had taken her in. Had trained her in her power. She had grown strong, despite what everyone believed. They'd thought she'd be weak. That she would die from the power. That she would never become much of a warrior.

And now she was the greatest of them.

She made her way into the cave she'd claimed as home, heading to the back "room" and falling asleep quickly on her mat.

Tomorrow she had work to do.

*************************

*Ryuu is the Japanese word for "dragon". However the dragon's I'm thinking of when writing this are sort of a western-oriental style combo; webbed wings and western-style bodies with oriental-style hair/mustache-things and horns and five claws per "hand" or "foot".


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Samurai Champloo or any of its characters. The lady-character is mine though. The song quoted in this particular chapter is from the English translation of "Fukai Mori", from the anime InuYasha, which I also do not own.**

**In case you haven't figured it out yet, **_**italics**_** indicate someone's direct thoughts, as they happen in the person's head. **_**"Italics in quotes" **_**indicate singing. And, as usual, regular quotes indicate someone speaking.**

**By the way, this is my first attempt at a fanfic, so be gentle with me. Constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm going to attempt to post a new chapter at least once a week, however this may prove difficult, along with a college schedule, college homework, and a part-time job. I'm going to try though. :) Hope everyone enjoys...**

**Also by the way. I've ended up deciding to make this "M" rated. Was going to go with "T" and all but... Violence. Mugen's bad mouth. And possible lemon later on. **

Chapter 2

The morning sun shone through the green canopy above him, waking him from a night of uneasy rest. Sleeping on a tree branch wasn't the easiest thing in the world, even if it was a rather large one and fairly comfortable... The shadow-woman's warning had made him decide to stay half-awake. Just in case.

_Looks like that bitch was wrong. There's nothing here to worry about..._

He sighed to himself and jumped down from the branch. He quickly stretched out his cramped body and set his feet on the road, once more setting out on his way.

____

Around midday, he paused to look for something edible. As his stomach grumbled he muttered to himself.

_Even a squirrel. I could cook it and eat it right away... Or some roots... Or mushrooms... Something... _His stomach grumbled louder in response to his train of thought.

A thread of sound reached him on the wind. He paused, listening. _What is that?_ Silently he began to move towards the sound. As he got closer the frail sound took shape, becoming music. Soon the words made sense...

"_There must still be the soul that you have left behind, hidden somewhere_

_In the deep, deep of the forest, lying among the trees..."_

He crouched down as he neared the source. _There must be a clearing or something up ahead..._ he thought as the light among the trees began to brighten. Finally, he could see it. A smallish clearing, the sun shining above. A single person standing in the middle, facing a rock that was about waist-height.

The voice was feminine. It was deep and clear, not high and screechy like some women's voices. The woman in the clearing sung on, not knowing he was there.

"_People who are too tired, they just don't look around any further_

_They disappear into the eternal darkness of a foreign place..."_

He leaned through the thick bush, trying to get a better look at the woman in the clearing. A shaft of sunlight illuminated her waist-length hair. _It's like fire..._he thought to himself.

He leaned forward a little more, eager to see the woman who was singing in the clearing. As he moved forward, a dry branch snapped beneath his feet.

The woman dropped into what looked like a fighting stance, looking around the clearing alertly for the source of the sound. Her eyes met his and she bolted for the trees, disappearing into the forest.

_Wow._ he thought, stunned. He contemplated the place where he'd seen her form vanish, thinking back to what he'd seen. Long golden hair, a strong-seeming body, though it was hard to tell under the flowing outfit she'd had on. Tan cloth pants, baggy enough to look almost like a dress when she was standing still, and a strange tunic-like shirt that came almost down to her knees. The tunic was split from her knees up to her waist to allow freedom of movement, and a sash held everything together. She held what looked like a walking stick in her hand. He hadn't gotten a good look at her face at all, but...

_I need to snap out of it. What do I care about some stupid bitch singing in a forest that everyone's been telling me was dangerous to travel though? It's her skin._

He grunted as he pulled himself from the brush. However, his curiosity got the best of him, and he went to go look around in the clearing. It was small, barely more than fifteen or twenty feet across, and there was a large stone in the middle, about waist high. He looked back to where the woman had disappeared to. _Oh well. She's long gone by now anyway._

He shrugged to himself and found his way back to the road, eyes scanning the area for something to eat as he began to walk along its dusty surface once more. _ I wonder who she was..._

************************************

_How did a _human_ sneak up on me like that? Am I really losing it that badly?_ She shuddered as she ran through the forest, thinking to herself. _At this rate I'll be dead before next year..._ Her golden eyes filled with worry and sadness.

She glanced up, looking for the sun through the thick leaves. She looked back to where she was going, continuing her patrol for the day, eyes watchful in the quiet forest.

Her eyes darkened as she thought about that afternoon, in the clearing. She always stopped by when her patrol took her nearby. Or even when she was just feeling lonely. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered.

_If he has stuck around after his death, it wouldn't be to keep the mutt company, I'm sure._ She thought bitterly. _But maybe..._ But maybe. There was always the chance that occasionally he was there, listening to her. Always the chance that Kai cared enough to come back and keep her company sometimes. _I miss him so much..._

The only person who'd even come close to being able to keep up with her. Her partner. Her friend. He'd been a loner till she'd come along. Together, they'd guarded the forest, protecting the humans nearby from the monsters within. Far away from the rest of the People. The ones that shunned her for being of mixed blood. The ones that shunned him for even talking to her. Since his death, she'd stayed here, waiting. The Ryuu had told her to choose her own new partner, that she'd know who and when, when the time came.

_Right. More like no one else wanted the job, because it meant working with the mutt on a daily basis. Even if the mutt is the strongest fighter among the people, that only means I get adoration from them when I come back to the city. That way they can bask in my glory, without having to lower themselves to actually working with me._ She slowed down, looking up at the sun once more. It was starting to set over the cliffs near the road.

_I guess I should go check on the human. Maybe he'll listen to my warning this time, and I can guide him out of the forest._

She pulled a pair of gloves from a pouch tied to her sash, hiding her hands. Next, she pulled out a mask - a piece of cloth that covered her nose and mouth, hiding the markings on her face, among other things. Her eyes she couldn't hide.

She stopped for a drink at the spring nearby, glancing at her reflection. Dark golden cat-like eyes looked back at her. She turned her back on those eyes and headed back into the forest.

********************************

Mugen ran swiftly along the dark road. The shadows were lengthening, and _they _ were getting closer. He could see their outlines moving behind him, almost glowing with a silvery light.

_What the hell ARE these things?!_

Strange forms, not all the same melted through the shadows towards him. Silver light reflected off the bits of them that came in view. The sun was almost gone...

A claw-lined paw there, a glint of silver fur... Another with a scaly tail. Yet another with what seemed to be shrunken, malformed bat wings lining its deformed back... They were like something out of a nightmare. Not even the crow-men were as frightening as these... _monsters._

_I guess the bitch was right... And the old bastard back in the village..._ he thought to himself, dodging through the trees, trying to find somewhere better to make a stand against the things in the shadows around him.

Terrible growls filled the night. They'd almost surrounded him now. There was no way out but forward. He burst out of the trees and came to a halt a few feet before a cliff face. _Damnit! _There was nowhere else left to go. It was now or never.

In one smooth motion, he drew his sword and whirled around to face his attackers. His body loosened into his familiar fighting stance, ready for anything. He glared defiantly at the beasts around him, now outlined in the silver of the newly-risen moon.

_I didn't survive the hell of those islands, the hell of my life, to die to these things in this damn forest._

His roar of defiance split the night as he charged the nearest silver-furred creature.

***************************************

Her head jerked up as she heard it. A sound that could only be described as a _roar_. She sprinted off in the direction it had come from, loosening her swords* that she always carried with her, pulling the hilts from either end of her "walking stick" and setting them just far enough back in the sheathe that they wouldn't fall out while she was running.

_Amazing. If I hadn't known better I would have sworn he was one of the People._

His roar had held so much primal fury, so much power in it that it had stopped her dead in her tracks. It was shocking to hear so much strength from a human. She could almost sense his fighting-spirit from here. Surely a human couldn't really hold that much strength, that much power?

***************************************

Three of the things lay dead around him. He was bleeding from many small claw-wounds on his torso and arms. He stubbornly pushed the pain to the back of his mind and snarled at the rest of the creatures that were approaching. Two of the other monsters in the pack dribbled silver-black blood from small wounds he'd inflicted on them. Seven pairs of silver eyes glared out from the shadows all together.

"Come and get me, you ugly bastards!" he spat at angrily at the twisted shapes surrounding him.

Suddenly, as if they understood, they all attacked at once. Their snarls of fury drowned out all other sounds. He cut the first one down, and kicked the second in the face with his metal-soled geta, sending it flying. The third attacked while he was off balance, reaching for him and growling all the while. He was down underneath the thing. Saliva dripped off its fangs and burned his skin where it touched him.

_Poison? Some kind of acid?_

Desperately, he used his sword to fend off the dripping fangs of the monster, but the thing was pressing closer by the second. It was heavier than Mugen, and it was using that weight to advantage, crushing him, snapping at his sword and seeking to get close enough for the killing bite. The other creatures seemed to be circling around him as they waited. His arms were burning with the exertion of holding off the heavy monster...

_So this is how it ends. Off on a stupid quest to find the people I thought were friends. Getting mushy really didn't pay off in the end did it? Getting killed because I chose to take the damn short-cut, to try and best a fish-faced prude and seduce the only woman who'd stuck with me for more than a few minutes after my money was gone. _The only woman he thought he could ever have a chance with_. _The woman that had walked away from him three years ago, even after he'd saved her ass, multiple times._ Fuu...Why did you have to be so helpless?_

_Damn it all._

*************************************

She broke through the trees and saw the pack circling. _I hope I'm not too late..._ The familiar rush of adrenaline was coursing through her veins as she took it all in. He golden eyes widened at the site of the man, fending off the poisonous fangs of the Hellbeasts. She let out her own roar, piercing the night. The whole pack, save for the one on top of the man, turned to look at her, startled. She ran at them, her ninjato swords sliding out, the sheathe falling to the ground behind her.

Her teeth bared in a snarl behind her facemask, and her eyes narrowed on her target. The man would _not _die tonight!

*************************************

He started as a higher-pitched scream of fury split the night. As soon as he heard it, he heard the sound of a sword slicing through flesh, and the weight baring down on him increased for a moment, then the weight lightened once more. The eyes of the creature above him bore into his own, turning from red-stained silver to darkness as it collapsed. The weight vanished as the creature was pushed off of him and a gloved hand appeared, pulling him to his feet.

"You killed off three, human? I'm impressed!"

That voice. It was the shadow-woman. He looked over at her, intending to make a retort. He stopped short. He was close enough to see her hair shining _gold_ in the moonlight... Like fire.

"Are you going to stand there or help me finish off the pack?" That voice again. He looked up into a pair of golden eyes and then away. Something about those eyes unnerved him. Snarling he looked back at his attackers, which were crawling closer by the second, quickly losing their fear of this new opponent in their midst.

"I'll try to leave some for you, bitch, but don't get in my way..." he growled.

***************************************

With that he turned and charged the monsters again. She stared at him for another moment before snapping her attention back to the present, lunging for the nearest enemy, swords at ready.

Her swords bit into a misshapen shoulder, and silver blood flew. His sword removed the head of the bat-winged creature, the decapitated corpse spewing that same silver black blood.

They fought like they rotated on a common axis. Their dance of death was beautiful and wild. And above all, it was lethal. They never got in one another's way, each somehow knowing when to come to the aid of the other. His metal-soled geta kicked the head of a creature as she ducked low to avoid his kick and gut the creature, protecting her from its fangs and finishing off the beast.

Her swords swung in from the side, slicing into the creature that had sought to attack his back, and he turned and finished it with a quick decapitating swipe of his larger sword. As one they turned towards the last of the creatures.

Her eyes glinted almost red-gold in the light, filled with the frenzy of battle. He glared at the creature from under blood-smeared bangs. They ran at the thing as one and ran through the last of the creatures, its silver blood spreading in a pool behind them.

_What just happened ,_she thought,_ I haven't fought next to someone since Kai... It was so easy this time though. Kai and I always got in each other's way at first. How...?_

_Well hell. Bitch knows how to swing a sword!_ he was intrigued. He'd never met a male that could keep up with him _(besides fish-face, but he doesn't count)_, let alone a female! _That was... exciting._ He grinned provocatively.

Brown eyes met gold. One warrior to another, they stared. Their equally wild fighting styles seemed... similar. They'd played off each other's strengths like they'd been doing it for years. They'd guarded each other's backs like the other was a trusted friend, rather than a complete stranger.

_Strange_, they both thought at the same instant, _I feel like I should know him/her..._

The golden eyes blinked, snapping the connection between the two fighters. Looking away, each began to feel the pain from the wounds that their battle-lust had hidden from them.

"Come with me," she said. "We can't stay here."

"More will come?", he asked, familiar with the habits of predators and scavengers alike. You saw both types of people and animals when you lived on a prison-colony island.

She nodded and turned towards the woods, headed in the direction of the spring she had drunk from earlier.

*************************************

_Why should I trust her?_

He didn't know. He watched her back as she walked off into the forest. _I only know that something tells me to follow her_. He always followed his instincts - they were the only thing that had kept him alive so long.

He looked around at the corpses of the creatures, all the silver-shine gone from their forms after their deaths. The silvery blood lining the clearing drew his eyes next. It would bring more of the things, if it didn't bring another predator or scavenger just as dangerous. He looked down at himself, red blood oozing through his numerous cuts, including a rather deep gash running up his thigh, and the burns on his neck and arms where the things saliva had touched him.

He touched his face, wincing as he drew away fingers that were bloody from touching the gash on his cheek. _More will come. The blood smell will bring them._

_And I'm done in. _He nodded to himself and reluctantly began to follow the shadow-woman's retreating form.

_What choice do I have?_

*****************************************

*The twin swords the girl uses are "ninjato" - Japanese swords that are shorter than katanas and longer than knives, but have straighter blades than either the kodachi or the wakazashi. They were typically associated with ninja. Modern ninjato are usually straight, but the ones from this time period (even though it's sort of AU, the story's still in the same time period... I just added extra stuff :D) did have a little bit of curve to them. Just in case you're interested.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Samurai Champloo or any of its characters. I just write about them!**

**Ok guys I know it's been awhile. If I have interested, ardent fan readers I'm sorry! I went and got engaged to my own real life Mugen (winks) and its exam time in college! I decided to take a break from studying frog guts to do some more.**

**I'd love some reviews if anyone wants to leave them - I'd like to know what you think about my first attempt at publishing anything I've written! Constructive criticism highly appreciated!**

Chapter 3

"This way... it's quicker", her voice came out of the night-darkness ahead of him. "Can't you move any faster?"

_Not like I could move much faster myself. But he doesn't have to know that._

"Quit bitchin'. I can't see out here, even though you obviously can." he muttered, concentrating on where he was putting his feet.

"Oh." With that a light appeared to his right. He blinked in surprise. _Where in the hell did that..._ His eyes widened. There was a ball of fire _floating_ there!?

*********************************

"Wha...?" He stared at the orb, dumbfounded.

"Just... come on. Please", she said.

_She almost sounds like she's sad about something. Well... I suppose I've seen stranger things._ He blinked._ I got attacked by creatures from hell with burning spit. My companion is a chick in some kind of weird getup that hides her face and body. She can summon fire-orbs and, from the way she talks, she's something other than human. Hopefully on my side, since she bothered to kill those creatures with me._ He would never think of anyone _saving _him. The idea was ridiculous. He didn't need saving. He would of won, eventually, of course. She just saved him some time and extra blood.

Her voice broke into his reverie, "I keep a few places stocked with food and bandages in this forest. In case I ever need them. There's one nearby... Next to the river. I think this one might have some shelter too...".

He grunted and coaxed a little more energy from his sore limbs and wounded leg. _Food..._ he thought,_ I haven't eaten since I left that damn village..._ His mouth started to water just thinking about the possibility of a meal. Eat when you can. Eat as much as you can when it's there. He'd learned the lessons of hard survival well, and he would always remember them, no matter how long he spent settled somewhere. He could never truly tame himself down to city life. After all, he grew up where people lived in what could best be described as _packs_ and battered each other for what little they could get on the islands.

-----

Soon enough, they rounded a bend in the path and there it was. A small clearing next to a small creek, probably runoff from a mountain spring somewhere nearby. There was a log next to what could only be a fire pit - it had been used before and there were still ashes in it and rocks ringing it. A dark spot against a nearby cliff face hinted at the possibility of a cavern of some sort. Maybe just a shallow overhang...

She turned towards him and motioned him to a nearby rock that was large enough to sit on. "Sit down. I'll treat you first... It looks like you took more damage than I did. Absently, she retreated towards the opening in the cliff, seeming deep in thought.

He considered resisting. He considered telling her just where to shove her orders. He thought about it. _No one tells me what to do. No one but me! But..._ One look at the rock decided him. He sat.

"I don't need your 'treatment' you know. None of this is anymore than scratch." he called over in the direction she'd disappeared to gruffly.

She emerged from the "cave". "You do realize that the bite from those creatures is poisonous? You do realize very very few people have ever survived it? The saliva should at least be cleaned off your skin so it doesn't get into any of those 'scratches' you have there", she glared at him, daring him to contradict her again.

He started to rise to the challenge in her glare, sending a death glare right back at her. As he shifted to get to his feet, a jolt of pain lanced up his injured leg, causing him to stagger slightly. _I'm done in. I need to rest and recuperate. I'll beat her bossy ass later, _he thought to himself.

While he was thinking she'd gathered some logs and put them in the fire pit and turned her back to him. She did - _something_ - and the logs burst into flame.

He grunted and shifted position, no longer looking at her.

She took it as permission and set to work, laying out bandages, clean cloths, and some kind of dried powdery herb. Then she went to the stream to fetch some water and set two small pots of water to boiling by the fire. She added some things to one of them, he couldn't see what from his angle though, then came back over to him, leaving the other to boil. She made another trip over to the stream and brought the bowl of clear water with her this time as she settled down near him, laying it out next to everything.

"Move this way, human, so I can see better."

"I have a _name_, bitch. And I'm not under your orders!" She looked up, annoyance burning almost like fire in her eyes. He glared right back, equally furious. After all, he could only take so much bossiness from anyone, let alone a _woman_! _ I'll never be under anyone's orders again but my own!_

She blinked and sighed, the fire fading from her eyes. "I... I'm sorry. I've been alone so long that I... What is your name? And will you please come sit closer to the fire so I can see to clean your wounds? If any of them managed to bite you... their venom is a slow, painful way to die for humans and People alike."

"Mugen", he grunted as he rose, swaying a little. He walked over and dropped cross legged in the sand surrounding the fire pit, near her.

"Sorry?"

"My name's Mugen", he repeated, an edge of his earlier anger still tinting his voice.

"I'm Riyana. Riyana Homura*. You may call me Riya if you like. I have never seen a human that could fight like you before", she replied quietly.

She began washing his wounds, making sure none of the marks were from the creatures teeth as she worked. _No one's dressed my wounds for me since Fuu... And she was always yelling at me for getting beat up in the first place while she did it,_ he thought. He sighed to himself, relaxing marginally. _The quiet's kinda nice._ His mind started to drift.

*******************************

She made a paste of the herb powder to add to the wounds while she thought. _That was interesting. I haven't talked to another person in years. Mugen huh? The infinite?** Ah well. He fought amazingly well. _She looked over at him while she prepared the paste. _I'm certainly impressed._ She wondered about it. The way they'd fought together, like they'd been partners for years rather than strangers just met. The way their moves complimented each other, two different styles of fighting blending easily. _I wonder where he learned that fighting. It's like no style I've ever seen. Wild and unpredictable. _She thought about the fire she'd seen in his eyes when he'd locked eyes with her in their death-glare match. _I haven't seen fighting spirit like that in a long time._

She finished smearing the paste on his wounds - it would help them heal faster and kill infection and got to her feet, brushing off. Looking over, she realized he was in another world. _Probably asleep with his eyes open, _she thought.

*******************************

A tap on his shoulder brought him back to reality. "Do you want something to eat?", she asked, holding out a bowl of something that like heaven to the hungry convict-turned-ronin.

He didn't even dignify the question with an answer, he just grabbed the bowl and dug in.

She chuckled softly. He stopped shoveling the stew in his mouth long enough to glare at her.

_Is she laughing at me again?_

She seemed to be, grinning at him from behind her mask, her eyes crinkled at the edges and sparkling in the firelight. She noticed his glare and grinned harder. "It's been so long since I've had any company. Forgive me. My friend Kai used to eat like you - no manners and shoveling it in like he could never eat enough!" she explained.

He returned to his food. _Used to, huh?_ He wasn't stupid, contrary to popular belief. He just didn't always feel like putting forth the effort of acting on what he'd figured out. And his intelligence usually tended to disappear when alcohol or whores were involved in the equation. Usually.

He lowered the empty bowl thoughtfully. "That was you in the forest wasn't it? Singing? And that place wasn't just a clearing - it was a grave." The last part wasn't a question.

Her eyes darkened and she looked away. "Yes. He was my partner in keeping the peace for the villages around here, keeping the monsters and creatures of this forest inside the forest boundaries and away from humans. And my only friend. He died to the bite of the alpha... _Mazoku***..._ There was nothing I could do."

He watched a tear like molten gold slide down her cheek and soak into the fabric of the mask that covered her face. Then he looked away. _I have troubles of my own. I don't need to add another person's to them, to weigh me down even more._

_Damn she's a good cook._

"Could I have some more?", she looked up again and almost smiled.

"Have as much as you like. I already ate while you were dozing off." She gestured to an earthen pot next to the fire.

He smirked and took another helping. "Well then missy... I mean Riya. You won't have any left when I'm through!"

Her chuckle reached his ears from across the fire, and he grinned to himself. _I like the sound of that!_

****************************

***Riyana Homura; Homura means flame in Japanese. Riyana is pronounced like it's spelled - Rii ya na (long i sound like ee). It doesn't mean anything I just liked the sound of it.**

****Mugen means dreamless, the infinite, no boundaries.**

*******_**Mazoku**_** means demonic of magic being in Japanese. It is a denizen of hell (or the spirit world). I thought that an apt description for the creatures.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Samurai Champloo or any of its characters. Riyana is mine though.**

**"The eyes are the windows to the soul." - Proverb**

**Really? I'm writing again in the same week? Ya. Inspiration strikes at funny times. Like a couple weeks from exam time, when I should be studying the circulatory system of my froggie, whom I have named Tim. Tim likes being chopped open. I swear. Maybe. But he smells funny.**

Chapter 4

_I wonder what she's thinking about?_ He was leaning against a convenient rock, across the fire from the woman - _Riyana_ - he reminded himself. He was content with the world at the moment, basking in the warmth of the fire, ignoring the darkness around him, and digesting his meal.

She was sitting across the fire from him, humming an almost inaudible tune as she gazed into the flames. He strained to hear it a little better. It almost sounded... sad? He shivered, wishing he couldn't hear the strange sound now that he'd picked it out.

"What'chya singing?" he asked, bored with the silence. He would never admit that the sad-sounding humming had bothered him, that it had started to bring back things he'd rather not think about at the moment...

The golden eyes across the fire blinked. They were an almost amber color now, darker than they were before. "Oh... I didn't realize I... sorry." She got to her feet and moved around the fire, closer to where he was. "Aren't you tired? We fought hard today, killing a whole pack of _Mazoku_..."

He looked up at her from his position. "Nah."

"Well I am," she said, wandering over to the storage-cave and pulling something from it and tossing it his way. He caught it. It was a blanket, all balled up. "I'm afraid that's all I have here," she told him, "I usually don't sleep on the ground, and pillows and beds are useless in trees."

"S'fine," he muttered, getting to his feet and scanning the surrounding forest for a promising tree. He began to walk into the woods a little way, and found one that seemed like it would do. He looked back to see her jumping up to another tree branch, next to the cliff.

Shrugging, he turned and climbed up into his chosen tree and stared up at the sky, still thinking.

_I wonder where she learned to fight. And why! What else has she got hidden behind that mask, besides her face? Why's she helping me anyway? I thought she made it pretty clear that she usually leaves people who are stupid enough to come through here to their fates._

_She's a DAMN good cook!_

He sighed deeply, his thoughts turning another direction. _No one's taken care of me like that since Fuu... _Thinking her name called up her familiar image, the one he'd put together as he'd decided what she probably looked like by now. Her chestnut hair, her brown eyes... Her curves filled out a little more, of course - she was older now. He preferred his women with curves in all the right places. _She's the only one to stick around with me without being paid for it. Of course, all those times I saved her ass could count as payment... _In the end, she'd left too. She'd walked away. Both of them had. _Her and Jin both left me to the dark and went their separate ways. And apparently they found their ways back to each other without worrying about me._ He sighed. He had to try and get her back. He had to try and fill the darkness with the only think he thought would work - the one female companion who'd patched him up so many times. He'd never admit to the loneliness. That was a weakness he couldn't afford.

_She was cute, if annoying. She was so helpless all the time though..._ Now that thought was new. He had thought he'd liked being the big hero. It felt nice to have someone depend on him for everything. And he could always play the hero when he saved her ass. He shrugged and resumed his musings.

_Damn that woman is a good fighter though! The Mazoku, she'd called the creatures. It certainly seemed to fit. It was so easy to fight next to her. She was like a partner. An equal. _

_**Not someone you'd have to save every other second and baby when you weren't saving her sorry ass,**_ another part of his mind muttered. He stopped, shocked that these thoughts were occurring to him, especially now, when he was on a quest to go find Fuu.

_It was... interesting... fighting next to a girl.... woman._ Her lines, thought athletic, weren't what anyone could call girlish!

_**Interesting probably isn't the word you're looking for. **_ He would admit to the rush he got fighting. He would admit that he usually went to find the closest whorehouse after a fight. He would NOT admit to the rush being intensified with a woman fighting next to him, instead of cowering behind him.

_It was nice to have someone watching my back, thought._ He discarded that thought before similar ones could follow it._ She would just leave too. Like Jin and Fuu. You're on your way to find Fuu, to take her back from Jin, if possible. You're going to find out if she's the one who'll chase away the darkness. She's _yours_. The only one that would stick around and patch you up after a fight._

But he couldn't help wondering what it would be like to have a woman that would watch his back so well that he didn't get injured enough to need to be patched up in the first place.

Before he could totally discard that last traitorous thought, his eyes began to drift shut. The familiar darkness engulfed him in his dreams, hiding the light and binding him with strong chains around his arms and legs and heart. Dancing flames darted in and out of this darkness, thought, lurking on the edge of his awareness. They brought light that faded in and out of the dark surrounding him.

***************************************

She opened her eyes to the morning light, stretching slowly and getting to her feet.

_Sleeping in a tree with nothing but a blanket after a fight probably wasn't the best idea._ She winced as her sore muscles protested her motions. They were all that was left of the bone-deep bruises she'd received last night. She looked down at her arm, pleased to see that the cuts she'd received were nothing more than barely-visible pink lines on her skin. She blessed the fast-healing People, and the mixed blood that flowed through her veins. _It almost makes it worth it sometimes. The faster healing, the extra endurance, the stronger bones... But almost doesn't quite cut it. It's so lonely being an outcast that no one wants. A half-blood that somehow managed to survive the venom that kills the full-blooded. A half-blood with demon venom, that became like the People even as the venom burned its way through her._

She jumped down from the branch and dug some dried fruit bars out of her storage-cave, eating a couple herself and leaving the rest of them on a rock below the tree that she found the man - _Mugen _- sleeping in, just inside the forest. Her gaze rested on his sleeping form for a moment. _I wonder what that was. Last night, after that battle._ Hell she wondered about during the fight too! It'd been so easy to fight side-by-side. So natural it was strange. She shrugged to herself, deciding to leave off puzzling the mysteries of life and fate for another time, and moved over towards the stream to stretch in the cool of the morning.

Breathing deeply, she took up her fighting stance in the middle of the clearing. Slowly, she drew her swords up, extending her arms to the fullest above her hear. then she suddenly dropped back down into her stance, muscles relaxed. She paused for a moment and began her dance. Her swords dived and darted, weaving around her body in complex patterns. She threw her whole body into the exercise, reveling the in the feel of the movement. She spun and kicked and darted around the clearing, slashing at trees and bounding over and around rocks, surrounded by a shield of sharpened steel that brought down imaginary enemies.

Here she could ignore the loneliness. Here, she could pretend to be whole, if only until the dance came to an end. Here and now, living in the present, the darkness that slowly strangled her couldn't get a hold on her. Her sputtering fighting spirit flared once more into life behind her razor sharp barrier, and she smiled and reveled in it. For now, it was enough. For now, her determination would be enough to allow her to continue to fight, despite the loneliness that dragged at her soul and ate away at her more with every day.

For now, she was whole.

************************************

The sun shining through the branches around him brought him back to consciousness. He rubbed his bleary eyes and looked around himself. He jumped down from his branch and stretched out, seeing if anything still hurt enough to leave his bandages on - he'd always been a pretty fast healer. Seeing something on the rock under his tree, he went to go examine it.

_Oh. Hell. Ya. FOOD!_ He grabbed up the bars eagerly and reduced them to crumbs in record time. Then he sat on the now empty rock and began to slice off his bandages with his sword. He smirked in satisfaction when he saw that the gash on his leg was now scabbed over and well on its way to healing.

Still smirking, he began to wander back to the clearing, to get a drink and see what that woman was up to.

-------------------

The glint of sunlight on steel caught his eyes as he emerged from the woods. His jaw dropped and he forgot all about his thirst when he saw her dance of death. He was mesmerized by the shine of her twin swords, by the sheen of sweat on her skin, the flashes of her flame-bright hair flowing behind her as she darted around the clearing, oblivious to his presence.

_Wow._ His eyes grew wider as he watched. Then he blinked and smirked, his breath coming fast, excited. He drew his own blade once more and jumped to meet her, catching her next downswing on his blade and surprising her, giving her his best cocky smirk.

She stopped, blinking in surprise. "What...?"

"Hey missy, wanna spar?!" he growled, breathing deeply the intoxicating smell of her - fruity, with the bite of sweat and the tang of blood from the edges of the scab on his leg.

Their eyes locked, her spirit burning deeply in her red-gold eyes. In his brown eyes, a strength flared just as brightly. As one, they started to grin in the anticipation of a challenge, her eyes crinkling over her mask, his feral grin growing wider across his face. She pushed off his sword and jumped back, settling herself back into a comfortable stance, swords at ready.

He understood that his challenge had been accepted without a word being spoken. Grinning in anticipation, he watched her, sword held ready at his side, waiting for her to make the first move. Together they stood, like two statues in the calm of the cool morning. Their wary eyes roamed over one another, two warriors, each sizing the other up without even moving a muscle.

Somewhere in the forest, a bird call pierced the still morning, and, as one, they leapt towards one another, minds ready for a challenge, and blades ready for blood.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Samurai Champloo or any of its characters.**

**Sorry, it's been awhile since I updated. I've been trying to find a job for the summer, and failing. But... I'll find something. I also suffered from writer's block.**

**On the bright side, I got a good grade on my froggie, Tim. Yay.**

**I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter. I might be unforgiveable and leave you hanging again.**

Chapter 5

The ring of steel on steel echoed through the forest. The two fighters continued to circle each other, flying around the clearing as each searched for an opening to give them the advantage over the other. The sun was high overhead now, beating down on the two warriors relentlessly as they fought.

They were oblivious to anything but each other, both determined to prove themselves the better fighter.

In and out Riyana's two swords wove, a defensive wall of steel with blinding-fast attacks. Her shorter swords gave her the advantage of speed and agility.

Mugen's body twister in every way, avoiding her attacks, as his steel-soled feet kicked out at her and his sword flashed out again and again, only to be caught by her two ninjato. He had the advantage of a longer reach and the extra swinging power that comes from having a larger sword.

Together, they danced. A dance of death. A dance of life, the will to survive burning in the eyes of both fighters. They were more alive than ever as each rose to the challenge in the other's eyes.

A connection grew between them, one fire-spirited warrior to another. A bond between comrades-in-arms, forged in the heat of the previous night's battle and tempered as they sparred in the blistering noonday sun.

They were both breathing heavily by now, their clothes soaked through with sweat and caked with dust. As they split apart from yet another clash, they both sagged, panting and watching each other with wary eyes.

So suddenly it startled both of them, she burst into laughter; a loud, deep belly laugh, full of joy and spirit. Mugen stared, a curious look on his face. _Has she lost it?_ he thought. But while he watched her laugh, he started to grin himself. _I haven't had this much fun in years,_ he thought to himself. _I guess she must be enjoying herself too. _He continued to stare at her while she chuckled, her eyes light golden and sparkling above her mask.

_Amazing_, Riyana thought, _no one's even been able to give me a good exercise since Kai passed away._ The familiar sadness of his death still hurt, but, at the moment, it was too outshone by her joy to cause the usual crippling pain. _Bright flame, but that was fun!_ She'd finally calmed down enough to stop laughing, and she sat down to catch her breath. She could looked up to see his grin as he came closer to her to follow suit.

"Well, missy, you're quite the fighter, aren't you?"

"You aren't too bad yourself, for a human," her eyes crinkled as she grinned, taking the sting out of what could have been an insult.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Mugen asked, still curious. The bond they'd forged as they fought made them both more at ease towards each other.

The joy in her eyes dampened a little bit as she explained "The People are a race that takes pride in their skill in battle. They live in uninhabitable places - for humans - to keep themselves separate from man. Creatures, like the _Mazoku_, or worse, share these far off places with them. They have to be able to fight to protect themselves, and the young, old, or the few non-fighters."

_'They'?_, he thought. _So she doesn't consider herself as part of her own people then? _ His eyes narrowed in speculation. _I wonder why..._

"I began training at an early age. At first, I just wanted to prove myself their equal, but I soon came to enjoy fighting for its own sake, and for the growing urge I felt to protect those that needed it. Such was my calling," she finished.

_So... for some reason she had to prove herself equal to her own people? Why? Do they not like female warriors or something? Or is it something else entirely. It doesn't seem to me like a race of fighters that need to survive would keep the weakness that would come from only the guy half of the population being able to fight..._ Mugen was deep in thought, so her next question surprised him a little bit.

"I've never seen a style like yours, Mugen. Where did _you_ learn to fight?"

He shrugged, "I grew up in a prison colony in the Ryukyuus. I had to fight to eat, to live. I taught myself. I call it Champloo-kendo*," he said proudly. His eyes darkened, "I also learned not to trust anyone or anything but my sword and my own fighting skills and instincts."

*****************************************

_Wow. He must have had almost as rough a start as I did._ She thought. She looked into his brown eyes, and was suddenly struck with the desire to elaborate. She wanted to tell him everything - the pain, the loneliness, the endless hours she spent training by herself. Her realization that, even though she'd made herself a warrior among warriors, she would still never fit in with the others or be accepted, simply because of what she was. The anger she felt when those that were kind to her face, basking in the reflected glory of her reputation and abilities, went off to mutter more rumors in dark corners, still somehow certain of their superiority, despite all evidence otherwise. The anger at her mother, who, instead of raising her to weaning and then giving her to humans like other half bloods, decided to try and hide her shame by getting rid of her child - leaving her to die in a forest full of monsters. Somehow, she had the feeling he'd understand _exactly_ what she'd gone through, what she still went through.

Her eyes fell on his tattooed arms. A prison colony. A convict. _**He WOULD understand**_, a part of her mind whispered. Suddenly she was somehow aware of the bond that had begun to grow between them. That made her nervous. _No, I can't take that chance. I don't want to see the disgust in his eyes too. I don't want him to know about my parentage. He doesn't need to know I'm a mutt. A half-blood. I don't want to see that condemnation in his eyes when he looks at me._

Better that everything remained a secret. Better that he thought her to be more than human, that he never saw her face or her hands and caught a glimpse of what she really was. For the first time in her life, she wished she could have been born a full human. Always before, she'd wished to have been a full-blooded one of the People, to know the acceptance of the society that she had grown up near, but had never been a part of. Now, she was shocked by a new revelation.

_If my mother hadn't tried to get the _Mazoku _to kill me off, I _would_ have been raised like a human. I would have been left somewhere, an orphan. Maybe someone would have taken me in, maybe not. At least I would have been part of a society, accepted as part of their people. I wouldn't have been treated like scum-by-birth. If I hadn't been left in this forest... If I hadn't been bitten and Changed... I would have been raised as a human. I would have looked like everyone else around me, instead of some strange mix of two worlds. I'm a monster._

_**You would have been like him. You wish you could have been like him so he would accept you, **_the traitorous part of her mind whispered.

_SHUT UP!_ She mentally screamed at herself. _That's not true!_

***************************************

He almost wanted to go into more detail than that. To tell her about the pain of betrayal - how the first two people he'd thought were his friends on the island later betrayed him. How Sara had used him for her own ends. To tell her about the pain of being left by Fuu and Jin later in life.

He wanted to tell her about the agony of being beaten as a child. Of being a lonely orphan with no one to look out for him but himself. The shame of being parentless, even in a colony of felons and criminals. He wanted to tell her about the never-ending anger, how he'd trained alone, perfecting his style. How he'd _made_ the beatings stop, how he'd learned to protect what little was his. He wanted to tell her about the never-ending hunger of the always slightly starving, the fight to survive, sometimes living on nothing but his will alone, his stomach so empty it was a constant pain he'd had to force himself to ignore to keep on living.

He wanted to tell her about the crow-men that had come for him** before, offered him their peace. How he continued to refuse their offer of the peace of the afterlife to keep going, though he didn't know why.

He wanted to tell her how he'd fought his way out of hell, leaving a trail of blood and death behind him, to forge his own identity.

_**She might understand better than you think...**_ part of his mind muttered.

_No._ He denied all possibility of it with a single word. _ No one but another prisoner, another outcast, could even understand what my childhood was like. Not even Fuu would have forgiven all the things I've done, things I didn't dare tell her and Jin, even if I'd wanted to. She wouldn't have understood all the pain I've caused, the people I killed because they got in my way. I'm a monster. No one would understand that and I can't risk telling Riyana, either. I can't... I won't let myself be hurt again._

_**You think Fuu would understand any better than this woman, a fellow warrior with an unknown past?**_ His mind retorted,_** or do you just intend to hide everything that made you who you are forever?**_

_Fuu stayed longer than anyone else. She might understand some..._ he hoped. He tried to call to mind how she would react... The understanding look in her eyes. But all he could think of was that helpless scared look she always wore when he'd come to save her ass, only this time directed at him.

Then he remembered her glaring angrily at him when he picked fights for one reason or another. And her constant exasperation at having to patch him up, even the times when he'd been injured to save her.

He shook himself, trying to bring his thoughts back to the present, not liking the path his thoughts seemed to keep wandering down.

_Could Fuu ever really understand my need to fight?_

****************************************

Mugen's eyes opened, his brown eyes searching. He looked over at Riyana.

Her golden hair was a tangled, dirty mess. Her skin (what he could see of it anyway) was coated with a layer of grime and sweat. Her eyes were closed over that strange mask she wore.

"Why do you wear that?", he asked, breaking the silence.

Her eyes opened and several emotions seemed to flit through them, finally settling into a look of sadness. _Was that fear?, _Mugen thought. _No... no I must have been mistaken. But why is she sad?_

"Because... because... I just do," she finished lamely.

"Hmm..." Mugen's eyes narrowed in thought. _What does she look like under that mask?_

He smirked to himself, and began to plot.

_I'll have to figure out a way to find out..._

***********************************

***The writers claim that that's what he calls his fighting style. If you actually want to pronounce it like they would, though, it would be spelled out "Champuru-kendo". Champloo is just the Americanized version of that word. I tried to find out what that word means, but all I can pull up is that it's an Okinawan stir-fry dish... Of course, that might be the point, considering his style is made up of bits and pieces of everything, and they would play off the fact that he could out-eat an elephant... :)**

**** In case you were wondering, I've done a little research, and it seems like this strange experience Mugen gets when he almost dies is connected to a Ryukyuuan belief about the otherworld - an island you can only reach by going underwater, a place of peace. If you want to read more about it look up Nirai-Kanai. Here is also a nice little piece someone did as a Mugen bio that fills in a lot of info if you are missing it. /samurai-champloo-mugen-bio/**


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